Highway guard



Feb. 5, v1935. F. R. MCFARLAND HIGHWAY GUARD Filed Oct. 9, 1933 nulllllllmlllll" ATTORNEY Patented Feb.. 5, i935 l 1,989,763 HIGHWAY GUARD Frank R. McFarland, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to Shemeld Steel Corporation, Kansas City, Mo., a corporation of Delaware Application October 9, 1933, Serial No. 692,761

ll Claim.

My invention relates to highway guards and more particularly to those of the band type and has for its principal objects to provide a guard of this character which will effectively deflect ya 5 colliding Vehicle into sliding contact therewith without causing the Vehicle to rebound in the path of othe ing surface r vehicles, to provide a smooth guidfor the vehicle to slide against, to

provide a guard having substantial rigidity in a longitudinal direction but having sufficient resiliency in a vertical direction to adequately absorb the force of an impact, to provide a guard that is not impact, and

easily distorted by the force of an to provide a neat appearing guard of perfect Visibility.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a supporting post of strong resilient construction to retain-the band sections in their proper positions.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the inventio n I have provided improved details of structure, the preferred form of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a highway equipped with a guard embodying the features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail perspective view of a portion of the guard, particularly illustrating the method of securing the band to one of its supporting posts whereby flexibility is provided in a vertical direction to absorb the force of impact, the flexing of the band being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a through the post.

vertical, longitudinal sectional view band and one of thesuppgrting posts on the line of attachment of the band with they Referring more in detail to the drawing:

1 designates a guard including a plurality of band sections 2 arranged in end to end relation, preferably with the ends of adjacent sections overlapped and supported by posts 3 along the side of a highway Il.

The band alloy sheet sections are preferably formed of steel and are longitudinally corrugated to provide substantial rigidity in the longitudinal direction thereof and to provide ilexibility across described.

their transverse direction, as later The corrugations 5 are relatively PATENT OFFICE deep and are preferably arranged to form a pair of outwardly projecting parallel rail portions 6 and '7, spaced apart by a central oppositely projecting fastening rail portion 8 by which the sections are secured to the posts 3. tions at the outer longitudinal edges of the rail portions are positioned similarly to the fastening portion and form sliding wing portions 9 and 10 contacting the posts to cooperate with the portion 8 to space the rails 6 and 7 from the posts.

The outer side edges of the supporting rail portions 9 and 10 are preferably curved outwardly toward the rail portions for stiifening and reinforcing the edges of the band sections but they do not project far enough to engage with a part of a colliding vehicle. The sections may be of any length desired to permit ease in handling and their Width is such as to be wide enough to engage the projecting parts of any vehicle that might collide thereagainst and to provide sufcient visibility for defining the dangerous sides and curves of a highway.

While the posts 3 may be of any suitable type as in customary construction, I find that a metal post preferably shaped fromV sheet metal offers the most satisfactory support for the band sections. The posts illustrated are, therefore, formed of relatively heavy sheet metal and include a web portion 11 having oppositely directed lateral flanges 12 and 13 on its opposite edges, one of which forms an attaching face for the band sections, as later described. I find a post of this construction is of light weight and affords a very rigid support for the band sections bif' it has sumcient resiliency to withstand the force of a collision Without breaking or buckling. The posts are of sufficient length to provide a rm anchorage in the ground and are set so as to project above the upper edge of the band when it is positioned at its desired height whereby the rail portions 6 and 7 thereof are in position to be engaged by the wheels and bumper of a vehicle.

In order to secure the sections to the posts to allow free vertical sliding movement of the upper and lower edges thereof, I provide a single attaching means, such as a bolt 14 having a rounded head 15 and a shank 16 which extends through aligning openings 17 formed in the central attaching portion 8 of the band sections and openings 18 formed in the front lateral flanges 12 of the posts. The Shanks 16 are threaded to receive nuts 19 by which the heads of the bolts are drawn tightly against the central corrugation of the band and the band against the post. By such a fastening it is apparent that the upper and lower edges of the band are free to flex under force of an impact and to slide on the posts to provide ilexibility of the band in a vertical direction, as clearly shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. The corrugations, however, are of suficient depth and strength to retain the rail portions 6 and 7 in spaced relation with the posts to prevent any part of the colliding vehicle from striking thereagainst.

In installing a guard constructed as described, the posts are located at proper intervals along the side of the highway with the flanges 12 in proper position to support the band sections, which are secured thereto by the bolts 14. The ends of the sections are lapped on the posts and secured by a single fastening device, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1, to form a continuous rail and sliding surface against which a colliding vehicle is guided.

In case a vehicle should collide with the band,

the wheel or bumper will strike against the projecting rail portions 6 and 7 and will be deected therealong to guide the vehicle in sliding contact with the guard. The corrugations will provide suicient rigidity to prevent deecting of the guard in a longitudinal direction but the force of impact will be taken up by deflecting expansion of the corrugations in a vertical direction so that the band will not cause the vehicle to rebound upon the highway.

Attention is directed to the depth of the center corrugation which forms the channel or guide groove having inclined side walls so that when the end of a bumper, hub cap, or other projecting part of the vehicle engages therein, it will slide therealong and be prevented from running out by the oppositely inclined rail portions of the guard. 'I'he relatively rigid corrugations also prevent backward twisting of the band under impact which might cause the engaging part of the vehicle to ride out of the channel. These are very important features because they prevent climbing of the vehicle over the guard and tend to stabilize its directional travelparallel with the highway.

From the foregoing it is apparent that I have provided an extremely rigid highway guard which provides a smooth surface for deflecting colliding vehicles into sliding contact therewith Without serious damage to the vehicle or guard since there are no projections on the guard with which any part of the vehicle may become entangled.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A highway guard including spaced posts, a guard rail formed of metallic band sections corrugated longitudinally to form a trough between adjacent outwardly facing ridge portions and inwardly facing convex lips at opposite edges of the band, and single means extending through the bottom of the intermediate trough and attaching the band to a pos't whereby. the edge lips may have free sliding Contact with the post in response to thrust on adjacent ridge portions of the band.

FRANK R. MCFARLAND. 

